Refrigerating apparatus



E. J. COPELAND.

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31. I918.

1,329,348. Patent-ed Jan. 27, 1920.

J 75 7.3 2 79 f I E 1 m I Viv fl W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND J. COPELAND, OF DETROIT, MICIZIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO KELVINATOR CORPOBA- TION, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

nnr nrenaarme APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan, 27, 1920.

Application filed January 31, 1918. Serial to. 214,605.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMUND J. COPELAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit. in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Refrigerating Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and particularly to a compressor for use with such apparatus; The invention has especial reference to refrigerating apparatus intended for domestic use, and hence thereto.

required to operate with little or no attention, although not necessarily Many attempts have been made to produce a domestic refrigerating apparatus in order to dispense Withthe need of periodic icing, to secure a lower and more uniform tempera-v ture than can be secured w th ice, and either to decrease or certainly not tolincrease materially the expense, but the conditions to be j suited are rather numerous and very'rigid. I

this point and necessitating refilling which The device must be inexpensive to construct and install since. otherwise it "will not. be

adopted; it-must be safe against leaks, ex plosions and fires, -both 'when running con-' tinuously and when left-alone for long;

periods of time; Kit-must be capable-Tot running without attention since such attention as it gets Wlllxbfl irregularand unskilled; 1t mustv be air cooled in order; to

reduce the cost of-itsinstallation, to prevent the waste of'water, and to avoid danger of freezing in cold weather; and it must be sov constructed-as to start instantly and operate properly even aft long periods of time.

Hitherto the only type of refrigerating apparatus even vpartly fulfilling these re- I be cooled, the vapor of such evaporation quirei'nents has been the so-called compression-liquefaction type, wherein a liquid of low boiling point is evaporated in a suitable coil or chamber located in the inclosure to being Withdrawn by a mechanical pump and delivered under pressure into a radiator ex..- ternal to the said inclosure where its latent heat of evaporation is given up and its liquid condition restored. Such a' system has been rnou'n theoretically for more than fifty years, and numerous large plants are in 'suclimited v er being left unused-fort:

' .The essence of my invention consists in the use of certain metals or combinations of parts stuck fast in the bearings so that sub-' sequent use of the device, if possible at all,

can occur onl'y'after long and expensive overhauling; and lubrication since most compressors require a lubricant not only for the shaft bearings but for the purpose of forming a tight seal between the pistons and-- cylinder Walls, which lubricant gradually becomes entangled in the refrigerant requir-' mg complicated exp'edients for its separation therefrom and also becomes worn out by use and leaks away around the compressor shaft so as to permit leakage of refrigerant at means 'unsealing the system. "-gThe objectsfof the present invention are the provision-of a compressor-of such con-- under all] conditions of temperature and pressure; the PI'OVlSlODOf a compressor con- "structedin'such manner and of such materials as to be proof against corrosion or sticking; while further objects andadvantion proceeds.

metals which will run against each other under wide extremes of temperature and in contact with the corrosive refrigerant withv out lubrication; and the particular'metal present sold by The General Electric Company under the name genelite. This metal will run against certain bronzes and against ;,tages'willbecome apparent as the descripdated August 26, 1913, and No. 1,177,407 dated March 28. 1916, which metal is atl erabiy employinga although these portions are not lnvariable,

hardened steel withoutperceptible wear and without sticking even at high temperatures, especially in case it be used in contact with members of substantially the samecoeiiicient.

of expansion." As an example end as nall amount of other substances such as zinc could also beem .loyed, The other member-is preferably a indofbell-metal r which possessesithe necessary hardness and smoothness of surface to runwell with the.

" 7 'genelite while having approximately the same coeilicient of expansion. Either the pistonor the cylinder can made of the graphite containing material, the other merrberbeing made of the bronze or other hard substance; and the cylinder preferably and cylinder bore with a lubricating and V takes the form of a sleeve pressed into the bore of a cast iron block. The action of the graphiteis to coatwthe surfaces of p1ston sealing coating. The refrigerant which I prefer to use :is'sulfur dioxid, which is whollywithout corrosive action upon the substances mentioned, although the same is substantially true of all other refrigerating media with which I have so far experimented Myinvention,alsoextends the, construction o'fcranksha-ft and wrist pin bearings which-shall he free from theneed of lubrication and. these likewise Ipreferably make of a non.- f erruginous graphite containingr metal such as the same genelite, rubbing aszainststeel; and the sealing of the,crank shaftagainst refri erant leakage is also con- .venxentlv efl'ected by the same substances.

. It-w-ill be obvious that the employment of ..thcse metals for the purpose in View can be 4 effected in a nultitude of ways, and that I do not restrict myself either to the particu lar metals herein mentioned or to any'pa ticular construct on of compressor-10.1- erran-gement of operating parts; also that' l I do not even restrict myself to the usefofja compressor of thereciprocating type.-'-inasmuch as my improvemen s can eouallyw ell be used in connection with a rotarvpumpz however, for the purpose of showing at least drawing-which shows 'a reciprocating piston type of compressor. 1 of the use of my invention in thecase' of pistons andfcylindersfl"make -one of thesame from the said genelite, pref-f compositioncontaming one operative structure wherein my inven- I tion is embodied I will now describe in detail the parts illustrated in the accompanying a Inthis drawing, which it will be under-1' stood'is illustrative merely and notlimitin l upon me, Figure 1 represents a longitudina vertical sectional view through apreferred design ofcompressor embodying my invenrows; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail View of.

the shaft-sealins arrangement; and F ig. .5

illustrates a slight modification.

' Describing the illustrated construction I, 'more at length and with relation to the characters of reference on the drawing, the particular compressor shown comprises two I cylinders, 1 and 2, bored parallel to eachother in a single cast iron block. the cylin:

ders being separated bv a narrow web 3'and surrounded by integral air cooling flanges 4'.

At one end, hereafter called the head end,

this block is faced as shown at 5 in a plane transverse to the cylinderaxes. while at its opposite end the cylinder block is integral with the hollow crankcase 6.,wl10se side opposite the cylinders, hereafter called the base, is squared ofl as shown at 7 for the hermetic reception of a suitable base such as shown at 8.; One end-of the crank case 6 whose axis is perpendicular-to the cylinder axis, and the opposite-wall of the crank case is formed with. an aperture 11 concentric ing plate 12 hermetically boltedtheretbf with said boss and adapted to have the bear- Projccting from-the outerface of the pl'r tl z ef i: i

12 is a hollowboss 13 whose bore is-in line with the boss, 10 and cooperates with that boss in the reception of the crankshaft, whose preferred method of mounting and sealing will be described hereafter. faced portion 5 is hermetically clamped the cylinder head 15, also preferably flanged as shown at 16 for air cooling purposes and carrying'the. valve cages 1'7 and-valves 18.

and cages is not important to the present in vention, although I preferably employ the construction] and arrangement described andclaimedin the application of Fred J.

Heidernan'filedJanuary 14;, 1918, Serial No. 211.75 O-- The uPpcr-sidejof a. cylinder head 15 is faced'asshown zit/2O for'the reception of the top plate 21 whose lower surface is formed To the The particular construction of these valves with a loniiitudinal channel 22 communicating with the valve cages ll, 17 and Whose upper surface is formed with a seat 23 tra7 ersed by an aperture 24 WlllCh commun 75 5 tion; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the broken line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and looking in, the

100 is formed with a hollow integral boss 10 dates with this channel. To the se at 23 is clamped a fitting for the outlet pipe, said fit ting preferably"- containing certain valves.

passages, and openings for definite purposes 'to be-hereafter described. The fitting; top

plate and cylinder head are conveniently 'se 1 which. fitting cured together by suitable bolts 25, 25 tapped into the head end of the cylinder block.

The side of the/crank case is formed with a laterally extending boss traversed by a bore 31 communicating with the crank case interior and faced at its outer end for the reception of a fitting for the inlet pipe; is preferably identical withv the fitting to which the outlet pipe is con- .ne'Cted. The cylinder block is also formed at a' point adjacent to both cylinders with a t longitudinal passageway 32 opening into the crank case at the one end and terminating at its opposite end in an enlargement 33 which opens into the cylinders by means of ports 84 intermediate theends ofwthe. cylinder bores.

Each cylinder is linedwith a, sleeve; 36' of 5 the bell-metal bronz'eyheretofore de- SCI'1b8Cl, the upper end of each sleeve being j formed with a flange 37 clamped in agroove in the cylinder block by engagement with the head 15.-- 'Slidably' mounted in each sleeve is a piston 38 of the-usual elongated type formed of self-lubricating metal as previously described andhaving therein transthat upon the conclusion of its downward stroke the port34 is uncovered to admitfluid to the cylinder bore;

The crank shaft 44 is of the usual two?" 3 throw type and 'made'of steel, 'while the head of each. connecting. rod is split and chambered for-the reception of the bushings 45 which are also preferably made from a graphite-containing non-ferruginous metal wh1ch may be the same as that used for the pistons. Suitable means. are provided to 'prevent the "bushings from rotating rela- I-tively to the. connectingrod, such as notch;

ing the same for the leceptiongf t coup fleeting bolts 46;; r

I The interiorof thel bosses ILO and" are 1 reamed for thetreception of journal bush--..

B-DdWlSe. n' ovemcnt Inf-"the crank "shaft; .aiidff directly in frontof the bushing filfthegcranki shaft is reduced infdiameten' to form the abrupt shoulder 52. against which rests the bearing-ring 53, alse preferably of the same graphite-containing metal and having its outer face formed upon the segment of a sphere concentric wlth the crank shaft aXls.

This spherical surface contacts with the lugs 50, 51 also preferably of the' same graphite containing smetal, these bushings being preferably cylindrical so "astofpennitg' ffi; With this arrangement it is a simple 'm'atter to close off. the pipe line by screwing out the loss of any refrigerant fluid.

complementary surface of a hardened steel ring '54: threaded into the interior of the boss 13, leakage past the threads being prevented by a suitable gasket 55 which in turn rests against an internal shoulder 56 formed in the bore. a I have also shown the boss 13 as formed outsideiof the shoulder 56 With in place by the gland 58 and lubricated from the outside in order to assist the ring 53 in its sealing action; although I know by experience that such a ring will. maintain its a chamber 57 filled with soft packing held sealing action without assistance for a great many months and perhaps indefinitely.

vForholdinp; the shaft snugly against this ring and pressing the ring closely to its seat 1 I have shown the inner end of the shaft as r outer fiend of the shaft is, provided with provided-with ahardened steel louttontil) slidably mountedin a recess 61 and held in outward position by a s ring62, the head of the button resting against a thrust plate 3 '63 located in'the' end of the boss 10 and fformed either ofbronze, gcnelitaihardehed steel, for any other suitable material. a The 1 I inclined to provide a fan action'and assistin l 7 keeping the cylinders cool.

Numerous compressors constru'ctedi'n ac q e5 tion have been operated continuously-in cordance with these drawings and deserip practical service for several months without attention or leakage, and even without sticki mg or squeaking although their, running temperature is so high as to be extremely painful to the touch, Y

The inlet'andoutlet'fittings here shown each consists. of a bronze casting having a base flange 7 0 integral-With the hollow body 71. Projecting from one side of the body fare a pair of-hollow bosses 72, 73, one of- Which is threaded for the reception of a J thimbleI 74 ,by means, of which is attached the inlet or outlet pipe as the case may the other being internally threaded for the the internally threaded neck 79- receiving: the threaded needle valveSO by means of which toelose the openmgthrongh the boss down the'valve 78,- aliter which the fittings .r

can be detached and the compressor instantly removed for purpose of repair with- One or both of the plugs 75 can also be removed and replaced by pressure gag-cs, either temporarily orpermanently, by means of which to ascertain the conditions within the ,"systern and the efficiency of the compressor. Also one of the bosses 73 forms a convenient point of attachmentfor a refrigerant tank with which to fill the system originally or to replenish leakage therefrom.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a modification consisting of a reversal of substance between the cylinder sleeve and the piston drawings, -1 have done so merely to illustrate one operative device in which my improvements can instantly be embodied but without meaning that the constructions and arrangements here shown are essential to the employment of such improvements and without intending to limit myself to such details of construction or arrangement which may be varied from in wide degree within the scope of-my invention and within the purview of the claims hereto annexed. Certain features of my invention described herein and included generically in the claims hereof are recited and covered in I a specific manner in my copendingapplication filed July 22,1918, Serial No. 246,119. Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim is:

1. A compressor for refrigerating apparatus comprisingrelatively movable elements one of which is composed of a nonferrous, porous metal having a solid lubricant disseminated therein.

2. A compressor forv refrigerating apparatus comprising relatively movable elements one of which, is composed of a non-- ferrous metal containing free graphite. 3. A compressor for sulfur dloxid comprising relatively movable elements one of which is composed of a non-ferrous alloy consisting largely of copper and containing free graphite. I

4. A compressor for refrigerating apparatus' comprising its working chamber and moving element formed of non-ferrous metals of substantially the same coeflicient of expansion, the metal of at least one of those members containing free graphite.

5. A compressor for sulfur dioxid com-' prising its working chamber and moving element formed of non-ferrous alloys consisting largely of copper, both members having substantially the same coefficient of expansion and at least one of the same containing a solid lubricating agent integrally disseminated therein.

6. A compressor for corrosive refrigerant media comprising a chambered part and a moving part therein, one of said parts having a. working surface consisting substant'ially of copper, 79 to 83%; tin, 18 to 14%; zinc, 2 to 1%; and lead 2 to 1% and the other part having a working surface consisting substantially of copper, 68 to 73%; tin, 12 to 14%; lead, 8 to 10%; and the remainder free graphite disseminated through the mass.

7. A compressor for corrosive refrigerant media comprising a cylinder part lined with bell-metal bronze and having therein a closely fitting moving element'of genelite.

8. A compressor for sulfur dioxid comprising an air cooled cylinder lined with bronze and a reciprocable tight-fitting piston'of genelite.

9. In refrigerating apparatus, a compresson for corrosive fluids comprising a chambered part and a moving part closely fitting said chambered part, wherein one of said parts is of bronze and the other of genelite.

10, The combination, in a compressor for corrosive gases of a chambered part of bronze and a closely fitting moving part therein formed of a porous, soft metal alloy having finely divided carbon distributed throughout its mass, the metal being largelyv in excess of the carbon.

11. The combination, in a compressor for corroslve gases of a chambered part of bronze and a closely fitting moving part therein whose working surface is composed of an alloy of copper with softer metals andhaving finely divided graphite distributed through its mass, the proportion of alloy being largely in excess of the graphite.

. 12. The combination, in a compressor 'for corrosive gases' of a chambered part of bronze and a closely fitting moving part therein formed of an alloy of copper, tin, and lea d having finely divided graphite distributed throughoutits mass.

1.3. The combination in a compressor for corrosive gases. of a chambered part and a. movable part therein, each of said parts consisting of an alloy of tin and lead with a' preponderance of copper, and one of said parts also having a solid lubricant, as graphite, distributed therethrough. 1

14. The combination in a compressor for corrosive gases. of achambered part and a movable part therein, each of said parts consisting of an alloy containing not less than about 70% of copper, between about 10% and about 20% of tin, and not more than about 10% of lead. one of said parts also having from about 4% ,to about 8% of finely di ided rrr-iphite distributed through the allov mass.

15. In a refrigerant compressor. the combination of a pair of rclativelv movable parts, one of which consists of a bronze composition having finely divided graphite disseminated therethrough, the other of which consists of a hard metal free from graphite.

16. A refrigerant compressor comprising relatively movable contacting parts com-v posed of bronzes of substantially the same coeiiicient of expansion, one at least of said bronzes having atleast 4% of finely divided free graphite uniformly disseminated there- 10 through. In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature.

EDMUND. J. COPELAND. 

